Marin Čilić (; born 28 September 1988) is a Croatian professional
tennis
Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
player. He has been ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the
Association of Tennis Professionals
The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) is the governing body of the men's professional tennis circuits – the ATP Tour and the ATP Challenger Tour. It was formed in September 1972 by Donald Dell, Jack Kramer, and Cliff Drysdale to p ...
(ATP), achieved on 28 January 2018. Čilić has won 21
ATP Tour
The ATP Tour (known as ATP World Tour between January 2009 and December 2018) is the sole worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) founded in 1990 that replaced the earlier dual Grand Prix ...
-level singles titles, including a
major
Major most commonly refers to:
* Major (rank), a military rank
* Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits
* People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames
* Major and minor in musi ...
at the
2014 US Open. Alongside
Goran Ivanišević and
Iva Majoli, he is widely considered to be one of the greatest Croatian tennis players in history.
Čilić is one of only four
active players with 20 or more titles. He was also runner-up at the
2017 Wimbledon Championships and the
2018 Australian Open, and won a silver Olympic medal at the
2020 Tokyo Olympics in the
men's doubles tournament partnering
Ivan Dodig.
Čilić has reached the semifinal stage or better at all four majors, one of three active players to do so, and the quarterfinal stage or better at all nine
Masters tournaments.
Personal life
Marin Čilić was born in
Medjugorje,
SR Bosnia and Herzegovina
The Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Bosna i Hercegovina, Социјалистичка Pепублика Босна и Херцеговина), commonly referred to as Socia ...
, a town in the
Herzegovina
Herzegovina ( or ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, Hercegovina, separator=" / ", Херцеговина, ) is the southern and smaller of two main geographical Regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being Bosnia (reg ...
region of
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...
to
Bosnia-Herzegovina Croat parents. He was raised as a
Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
. His father Zdenko Čilić was determined that his sons – Marin and older brothers Vinko and Goran – would have the opportunities he lacked in playing sports. When the first tennis courts in the town were built in 1991, Marin and his friends were among the first to play on them. At the recommendation of
Goran Ivanišević, in 2004, at the age of 15, Čilić moved to
San Remo,
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
to work with Ivanišević's former coach,
Bob Brett. He has a younger brother, Mile, who also plays tennis. On 28 April 2018, he married his long time girlfriend Kristina Milković. They have two sons together, Baldo and Vito.
Career
2004–05: Junior circuit
Čilić began playing on the junior
ITF circuit in spring 2004. At the start he played on clay courts, winning the ''La Vie Junior Cup Villach'' in singles and the Dutch Junior Open in doubles. He then qualified for the
2004 US Open, where he lost in the second round to
Sam Querrey. In 2005, he won the
French Open
The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
title in Boys' singles, beating
Andy Murray
Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British former professional tennis player and coach. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professio ...
in the semifinal and
Antal van der Duim in the final. He finished 2005 ranked number two behind American
Donald Young. While on the junior circuit, he won six tournaments in singles and four in doubles with his Canadian partner, Greg Kates.
Before representing Croatia, he played for
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...
as a junior with partner Zachary Rosen.
2005–2007: ATP Tour
In 2004, Čilić played one
Futures event (Croatia F1), at which he reached the second round; he finished the year tied at No. 1463 on the
rankings of the
ATP Tour
The ATP Tour (known as ATP World Tour between January 2009 and December 2018) is the sole worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) founded in 1990 that replaced the earlier dual Grand Prix ...
. He played seven Futures tournaments in 2005, winning one, the Croatia F3 event; two
Challenger tournaments, in Zagreb and Geneva; and one
ATP International Series tournament, the
Croatia Open, where he lost in the opening round. He finished the year ranked No. 587.
In 2006, he played three Futures, winning the Croatia F1 and Croatia F2 events. He also played in nine Challengers, nine International Series events (reaching the semifinals at
Gstaad),
and two
Davis Cup ties, against
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
and
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
. By the end of the year, he was ranked No. 170.
In 2007, he won the first and second professional tournaments of his career: the Casablanca Challenger (in April) and the Rijeka Challenger (in May). In June, at the
Queen's Club Championships, he beat
Tim Henman in the first round after trailing 2–4 in the final set, and reached the quarterfinals, where he fell to
Andy Roddick. After that performance, he reached a new career-high ranking of No. 101 on 18 June 2007.
In the World Group playoffs in the first round of the
2007 Davis Cup, Čilić beat
Benjamin Becker of Germany; however, Croatia went on to lose the tie, three matches to two.
2008: First ATP singles title
In 2008, Čilić reached the semifinals at the
Chennai Open, in both singles and doubles. In the singles, he was defeated by
Mikhail Youzhny, who went on to win the tournament. Čilić made it to the fourth round of the
2008 Australian Open, taking out two
seed
In botany, a seed is a plant structure containing an embryo and stored nutrients in a protective coat called a ''testa''. More generally, the term "seed" means anything that can be Sowing, sown, which may include seed and husk or tuber. Seeds ...
s on his way, including
2007 Australian Open finalist
Fernando González
Fernando Francisco González Ciuffardi (; born 29 July 1980) is a Chilean former professional tennis player. During his career, he reached at least the quarterfinals of all four Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, major tournaments. He contested hi ...
.
James Blake beat him in the fourth round. He had achieved his goal for the year of reaching the top 40. His fourth-round result at the Australian Open put him at no. 39 in the ATP rankings.
Čilić also made it to the fourth round of
Wimbledon, beating
Jarkko Nieminen in five sets in the second round and knocking-out 14th seed
Paul-Henri Mathieu. At the 2008 Olympics, he reached the second round of the men's singles, beating
Juan Mónaco before losing to Fernando González.
He lost in straight sets to
Arnaud Clément. At the
Canada Masters, he defeated Andy Roddick in reaching the quarterfinal stage, giving his best performance in a Masters Series tournament to date. He lost in three sets to
Gilles Simon in the quarterfinals.
Čilić played the
Pilot Pen Tennis tournament in New Haven, Connecticut, where he won his first ATP title. He defeated
Viktor Troicki,
Jürgen Melzer
Jürgen Melzer (born 22 May 1981) is an Austrian tennis coach and former professional tennis player. Melzer reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 8 in April 2011, and a doubles ranking of world No. 6 in September 2010. He has a youn ...
, and
Igor Andreev in early rounds, then 2007 finalist
Mardy Fish in the final. Čilić, seeded for the first time at a
Grand Slam tournament, reached the third round of the US Open, but lost to
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Новак Ђоковић, Novak Đoković, separator=" / ", ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at N ...
in a match that lasted almost four hours. Čilić came back from a break down in each of the second, third, and fourth sets. In the first round, he had defeated
Julien Benneteau
Julien Henry Guy Benneteau-Desgrois (; born 20 December 1981) is a French retired professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 25 and doubles ranking of No. 5 in November 2014. Benneteau did not win a singles ti ...
in five sets in a match that lasted more than four hours, winning the deciding set.
2009: US Open quarterfinals
Čilić won his first title of 2009 and second career ATP title at the
Chennai Open, defeating first-time finalist
Somdev Devvarman.
He reached the fourth round of the
Australian Open after beating
David Ferrer in straight sets, equalling his 2008 record. In the fourth round, he was defeated by
Juan Martín del Potro in four sets.
Later in the year, Čilić won the
PBZ Zagreb Indoors, defeating compatriot
Mario Ančić in the final.
He helped his country defeat Chilean opponents in the Davis Cup first-round tie by winning the opening singles match and joining forces with Mario Ančić to win the doubles rubber.
Čilić reached a career best at the
French Open
The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
when he beat 18th seed
Radek Štěpánek
Radek Štěpánek (; born 27 November 1978) is a Czech former professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking was world No. 8 and best doubles ranking was world No. 4. Štěpánek's biggest achievements are reaching two Masters 1000 ...
in the third round in straight sets. After two competitive sets against the third-seeded Andy Murray, Čilić lost the match.
He reached the second round of the
Queen's Club Championships, an
ATP World Tour 250 series
The ATP 250 tournaments (previously known as the ''ATP World Tour 250'' tournaments, ''ATP International Series'', and ''ATP World Series'') are the lowest tier of annual men's tennis tournaments on the main ATP Tour, after the four Grand Slam (t ...
event, where he was defeated by
Nicolas Mahut of France. He beat
Alberto Martín to make it into the second round at Wimbledon and won a five-set match (spread over two days) against Sam Querrey. He played another five-set match in the third round against
Tommy Haas. He recovered from two sets down, but lost 10–8 in the deciding set, having held a match point.
During the hard-court season, Čilić was defeated in back-to-back events in the first round. At
Washington, he was defeated in straight sets by
Somdev Devvarman. He then failed to duplicate his quarterfinal appearance in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
, losing to
Mikhail Youzhny. In the
US Open, as the 16th seed, he reached the fourth round, after defeating
Ryan Sweeting,
Jesse Levine, and
Denis Istomin. He defeated Levine after being down two sets to love, coming back to win. He then scored the biggest upset of the 2009 US Open with a straight-sets victory over second-seeded
Andy Murray
Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British former professional tennis player and coach. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professio ...
in the fourth round. Čilić outclassed Murray by saving all the break points he faced and took advantage of Murray's unforced errors. After the match, he said it was the biggest win of his career to date. However, in the quarterfinals, he lost to the eventual champion Juan Martín del Potro, despite leading by one set and an opening break in the second set.
Following his impressive US Open run, Čilić participated in the
China Open in Beijing as the eighth seed. He won his opening match against Russian
Igor Andreev, followed by a three-set victory over Frenchman Julien Benneteau. In the quarterfinals, he defeated fourth seed
Nikolay Davydenko, before stunning world No. 2 and top seed (in the tournament)
Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal Parera (born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for ...
in a straightforward win. In the final, Čilić went down to second seed Novak Djoković in straight sets.
He reached the fifth final of his career at the
Bank Austria Tennis Trophy as top seed; however, he lost. He received a wild card for the
Davidoff Swiss Indoors, where he finished in the quarterfinals, losing to Radek Štěpánek. His final tournament of the year was the
BNP Paribas Masters. Entered as 12th seed, he came from a set down to defeat
Łukasz Kubot in the second round, and then from a set down again to defeat seventh seed
Fernando Verdasco, before coming to a halt in the quarterfinals against eventual finalist
Gaël Monfils.
2010: First major semifinal and top 10 debut
Čilić won the
Chennai Open final, beating
Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland in straight sets.
Seeded 14th at the
Australian Open, he defeated
Fabrice Santoro,
Bernard Tomic
Bernard Tomic (; , ; born 21 October 1992) is an Australian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 17 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Tomic has won four singles titles on the ATP To ...
, and Stan Wawrinka in the first three rounds. In the fourth round, he faced fourth seed and reigning US Open champion del Potro; it was their third meeting in the past five majors. In a match that lasted more than four and a half hours, Čilić defeated Del Potro to reach his second major quarterfinal appearance. In the quarterfinals, he defeated seventh seed Andy Roddick in another five-set victory. In doing so, he became the first Croatian to reach the semifinals at the Australian Open. However, Čilić eventually lost in four sets to Andy Murray, despite winning the first set. Čilić followed up his Australian campaign by defending his title in Zagreb, defeating
Michael Berrer in the final. Čilić achieved a new career-high ranking of No. 9 as a result. Čilić was selected to play singles and doubles partnering with Karlović for the
Croatia Davis Cup team against
Ecuador
Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...
in March 2010. Čilić, seeded eighth, lost in the second round to
Guillermo García-López at the
BNP Paribas Open.
At the
French Open
The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
, Čilić lost to
Robin Söderling
Robin Bo Carl Söderling (; born 14 August 1984) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 4 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in November 2010. Söderling won ten singles titles on th ...
in the fourth round. Čilić was defeated in the first round of
Wimbledon by
Florian Mayer
Florian Mayer (; born 5 October 1983) is a German former professional tennis player.
Mayer reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 18 in June 2011. Also in 2011, Mayer won his first ATP Tour title after four previous defeats in AT ...
.
He reached the semifinals of the
Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington D.C., ending
Mardy Fish's 11-match winning-streak in the third round. Čilić was defeated by eventual champion David Nalbandian.
At the
US Open, Čilić lost to
Kei Nishikori in the second round.
2011: Sixth ATP title
Čilić began the season with a first-round loss to Kei Nishikori in
Chennai
Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...
, failing to defend his title. At the
Australian Open he progressed to the fourth round, defeating
Donald Young,
Santiago Giraldo
Santiago Giraldo Salazar (, born 27 November 1987) is a Colombian former professional tennis player. He played on the ATP tour and represented Colombia Davis Cup team, Colombia in the Davis Cup competition. His best tournament result is reachi ...
, and then
John Isner
John Robert Isner (born April 26, 1985) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 8 in singles and No. 14 in doubles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Considered one of the best servers ...
in a five-set. In the fourth round, he lost to world No. 1, Rafael Nadal. Next, he went to
Zagreb
Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...
to defend another title. Again, he was unable to do so, falling to Florian Mayer in the quarterfinals.
Čilić played next in
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...
and lost to
Viktor Troicki in the quarterfinals. He then played in
Marseille
Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...
, where he was unseeded. He defeated
Tomáš Berdych
Tomáš Berdych (; born 17 September 1985) is a Czech former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 4 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved in May 2015. Berdych won 13 ATP Tour singles titles, i ...
in the quarterfinals and saved one match point in a comeback win against Mikhail Youzhny. He lost to Robin Söderling in the final. Čilić played for Croatia in the World Group playoffs in the first round of the
2011 Davis Cup, defeating Florian Mayer in the opening singles rubber. He levelled the tie at 2–2 by defeating
Philipp Kohlschreiber in the first reverse singles rubber. However, Germany ultimately won the tie.
Čilić lost in the first round of the
French Open
The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
to
Rubén Ramírez Hidalgo and at
Wimbledon to his compatriot
Ivan Ljubičić.
At Umag, Čilić became the first Croatian man to reach the finals in over 20 years, losing to
Alexandr Dolgopolov. He upset Juan Martín del Potro in the second round of the
Rogers Cup and reached the third round of the US Open, losing to Roger Federer. In ATP 500 in Beijing, he lost the final against world No. 6,
Tomáš Berdych
Tomáš Berdych (; born 17 September 1985) is a Czech former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 4 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved in May 2015. Berdych won 13 ATP Tour singles titles, i ...
, in three sets. The next week he was upset by
Albert Ramos
Albert may refer to:
Companies
* Albert Computers, Inc., a computer manufacturer in the 1980s
* Albert Czech Republic, a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic
* Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands
* Albert Market, a street mark ...
in the
Shanghai Rolex Masters. He won his sixth career title in Saint Petersburg by defeating world No. 10
Janko Tipsarević in the final. En route to the final, he defeated
Sergei Bubka,
Somdev Devvarman,
Andreas Seppi
Andreas Seppi (born 21 February 1984) is an Italian former professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 18 on 28 January 2013. He became the first Italian to win a title on all three surfaces.
Personal lif ...
, and Mikhail Youzhny.
2012: Two ATP titles
Čilić did not play at the
2012 Australian Open, but did play at
Indian Wells, where he lost in the second round to
David Nalbandian. He was defeated by Juan Martín del Potro in the third round of
Miami
Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
and the
French Open
The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
. In June, Čilić won the
Queen's Club Championships in London after his opponent in the final, David Nalbandian, was disqualified in the second set for aggravated behaviour, having kicked the hoarding around a linesman's chair, injuring the linesman.
In the third round of Wimbledon, he beat
Sam Querrey 7–6, 6–4, 6–7, 6–7, 17–15 in the second-longest match ever played at Wimbledon in 5 hours and 31 minutes. He subsequently lost to Andy Murray in the following round. In July 2012, Čilić became the first home player to win the
Croatia Open after 22 years by defeating
Marcel Granollers
Marcel Granollers Pujol (; ; born 12 April 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He reached a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 1 on 6 May 2024, becoming the second Spanish man to achieve the feat (after Emilio Sánchez Vicari ...
of Spain in the final.
At the
Summer Olympics, he reached the second round in the men's singles, beating Jürgen Melzer before losing to Lleyton Hewitt.
In the men's doubles, he reached the quarterfinals with
Ivan Dodig.
Čilić was seeded 12th at the
US Open, where he matched his 2009 effort in reaching the quarterfinals. He was defeated by the eventual champion Andy Murray despite winning the first set and leading 5–1 in the second set.
2013: Failed drugs test and ban
Čilić started his year at the
Chennai Open, where he lost to
Benoît Paire in the quarterfinals. At the
Australian Open, he was seeded 12th but was upset in the third round by Andreas Seppi in a five-set match. In February, Čilić played for Croatia in the
Davis Cup World Group playoffs against Italy; he defeated
Paolo Lorenzi in the opening singles rubber, and in the first reverse singles, he avenged his earlier loss to Seppi at the Australian Open, prevailing in a straight-sets win. Italy, however, won the tie eventually with a final score of 3–2.
At
Zagreb
Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...
, where he had won twice in 2009 and 2010, Čilić won for a third time to earn his ninth career title, defeating
Jürgen Melzer
Jürgen Melzer (born 22 May 1981) is an Austrian tennis coach and former professional tennis player. Melzer reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 8 in April 2011, and a doubles ranking of world No. 6 in September 2010. He has a youn ...
in the final. Čilić was top-seeded in the
Memphis Indoor event but lost to
Kei Nishikori, the eventual champion, in the quarterfinals. Čilić next played at
Indian Wells, where he lost in the third round to
Milos Raonic in three sets. In the following tournament at
Miami
Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
, he defeated world No. 8,
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (; born 17 April 1985) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 5 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in February 2012. Tsonga won 18 singles titles on th ...
, in the fourth round but lost to Andy Murray in the quarterfinals.
Čilić started his clay-court season in
Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...
, but lost to
Richard Gasquet
Richard Gabriel Cyr Gasquet (; born 18 June 1986) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 7 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP, attained in July 2007. Gasquet won 16 singles ...
in the fourth round. In May, it was announced Čilić had left his longtime coach
Bob Brett and would be coachless at tournaments before hiring a new one. At the
French Open
The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
, he lost in the third round to Viktor Troicki in straight sets. In June, Čilić returned to
Queen's Club to defend his title. He defeated world No. 6, Tomas Berdych, in the quarterfinals, his second top 10 win of the year, and
Lleyton Hewitt
Lleyton Glynn Hewitt (born 24 February 1981) is an Australian former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) fo ...
in the semifinal. In the final, Čilić lost to Andy Murray in three sets.
At
Wimbledon Čilić pulled out before his second-round match claiming he had a left knee injury where he was scheduled to play
Kenny de Schepper of France. However, a month later it was revealed that Čilić had pulled out due to failing a drugs test in Munich for, according to
Jutarnji list
() is a Croatian daily newspaper based in Zagreb. It was published on 6 April 1998 by EPH (Europapress holding, owned by Ninoslav Pavić), which eventually changed its name in Hanza Media after being bought by Marijan Hanžeković. The newspap ...
daily, "incautious use of glucose." On 16 September 2013, he received a backdated nine-month ban due to testing positive for the banned substance
nikethamide. Čilić claimed that the banned substance was ingested via Coramine glucose tablets bought at a pharmacy by a member of his team, and as a result, the independent tribunal believed that he did not intend to enhance his performance. The suspension ran until 1 February 2014 and all prize money and points since the positive test including the Munich tournament were null and forfeited. Čilić appealed against this ban to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, who reduced the ban from nine months to four months on 25 October. They stated that "the degree of fault committed by the athlete was inferior to that established in the (tribunal) decision and the sanction imposed was too severe in view of the degree of fault". Čilić, whose ranking had dropped to number 47, received an immediate boost as results at the French Open, Queen's and Wimbledon were reinstated.
In late 2013, Čilić started working with
Goran Ivanišević as his new coach.
2014: US Open champion
Čilić returned to the tour at
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
. He defeated
Denis Istomin and
Grigor Dimitrov to reach the quarterfinal, where he lost to Kei Nishikori. In
Sydney
Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
, he lost to Denis Istomin in the second round. At the
Australian Open second round, Čilić lost to
Gilles Simon in five sets.
In February, Čilić successfully defended his title at
Zagreb
Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...
without dropping a set, winning his 10th career title. Čilić extended his winning streak at the
Rotterdam Open. He defeated
Lukas Rosol, world No. 10, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, world No. 6, Andy Murray and
Igor Sijsling
Igor Sijsling (; born 18 August 1987) is a Dutch professional tennis player. Sijsling reached his career-high ATP singles ranking of World No. 52 on 17 February 2014. His biggest accomplishment is reaching the final of 2013 Australian Open – M ...
, reaching the second final of the season, where he lost to Tomas Berdych. Čilić continued his excellent form in
Delray Beach, reaching his third consecutive final of the season, where he defeated
Kevin Anderson and won his 11th singles title.
Čilić reached the fourth round of the
Indian Wells Masters. He defeated
Paolo Lorenzi and
Tommy Robredo to set up a clash with Novak Djokovic. However, he lost the match in three sets. His good form came to an end in the
Miami Masters where he lost to
Édouard Roger-Vasselin in the second round.
During the clay season, Čilić reached the quarterfinals in
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
. He lost in early rounds in both
Madrid Open and
Rome Masters. At the
French Open
The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
, Čilić reached the third round before losing to Djokovic in four sets.
Čilić returned to
Queen's Club in June, where he was last year's runner-up on the grass court, however, he was knocked out by
Marinko Matosevic in the first round. Čilić successfully rebounded at
Wimbledon, reached the quarterfinals for the first time, beating
Paul-Henri Mathieu,
Andreas Haider-Maurer, Tomas Berdych and
Jérémy Chardy
Jérémy Chardy (; born 12 February 1987) is a French tennis coach and a former professional player. He has won one ATP Tour singles title, in Stuttgart in 2009. His best major performance in singles was reaching the quarterfinals of the 2013 ...
before losing to eventual champion Novak Djokovic in five sets.
In July, Čilić played
Croatia Open on home soil, where he was defeated in the semifinals by Tommy Robredo. In the warmup
US Open Series, Čilić advanced to the third round at
Rogers Cup, where he lost to Roger Federer in a close three-set match. In the following
Cincinnati Masters, Čilić also reached the third round before losing to Stan Wawrinka.
Seeded 14th at the
US Open, Čilić defeated
Marcos Baghdatis
Marcos Baghdatis (Greek language, Greek: Μάρκος Παγδατής, Arabic language, Arabic: ماركوس بغداتيس); born 17 June 1985 is a Greek Cypriot former professional tennis player and coach. He was the runner-up at the 2006 Aus ...
,
Illya Marchenko and Kevin Anderson to set up a fourth-round fixture against Gilles Simon, beating the Frenchman for the first time in five matches. He then went on to defeat both world No. 7, Tomas Berdych, and world No. 3, Roger Federer, in straight sets to reach his maiden major final. This was also his first-ever victory against Federer in all competitions. Čilić defeated 10th seed Kei Nishikori in straight sets in the final, claiming his first major title and becoming the first Croatian to win a men's major title since his coach Goran Ivanišević won the
2001 Wimbledon Championships.
His triumph in the final was also his 300th professional victory.
Following his US Open victory, Čilić played for Croatia in
Davis Cup World Group playoffs against Netherlands. Initially signed up for doubles rubber only, Čilić and teammate
Marin Draganja beat
Robin Haase
Robin Haase (; born 6 April 1987) is a Dutch professional tennis player.
He reached his career-high Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP singles ranking of world No. 33 in July 2012 and his highest doubles ranking of world No. 29 in May 2023 ...
and
Jean-Julien Rojer
Jean-Julien Rojer ( "John Julian" , ; born 25 August 1981) is a Dutch professional tennis player from Curaçao, who specializes in doubles. He reached his career-high doubles ranking of world No. 3 in November 2015.
He is a four-time Grand Sla ...
. After a 2:2 tie between two countries, however, Čilić stepped up and played the deciding fifth singles rubber in place of young compatriot
Borna Ćorić, where he defeated
Thiemo de Bakker. The victory earned Croatia the World Group status for 2015.
At
China Open, Čilić advanced to the quarterfinal before losing to Andy Murray. In
Shanghai Masters, Čilić was upset in the first round by fellow countryman
Ivo Karlović after losing the tiebreak in the third set. Čilić, however, rebounded at
Kremlin Cup, where he defeated
Roberto Bautista Agut in the final and won his fourth title of the season. On 18 October, it was announced Čilić, as the then reigning US Open champion, had become the fifth player (after Djokovic, Nadal, Federer and Wawrinka) to qualify for the
ATP World Tour Finals in London from 9–16 November. Čilić subsequently withdrew from the
Valencia Open and
Paris Masters in order to allow time for an arm injury to heal before the tour finals. He ultimately lost all three matches in the round robin.
Čilić finished the season as world No. 9 in year-end ATP rankings.
2015: Fourteenth ATP title
A shoulder injury prevented Čilić from playing the
Brisbane International and
Australian Open.
After being sidelined for more than two months, Čilić made his season debut at the
Indian Wells Masters. After receiving a bye in the first round, he lost in the second round to Juan Mónaco in straight sets. Čilić subsequently withdrew from the
Miami Open due to the shoulder problem. Čilić returned to tour at
Monte-Carlo Masters, where he advanced to quarterfinals, before losing to eventual champion Novak Djokovic.
At the 2015 French Open, Čilić lost to David Ferrer in the fourth round in straight sets. At
Queen's Club, Čilić was beaten in the second round by
Victor Troicki in three sets. Čilić matched his 2014 Wimbledon performance, reaching the quarterfinals again after eliminating
Moriya,
Berankis,
Isner (12–10 in the fifth set), and
Kudla.
Čilić returned to Flushing Meadows for the
US Open to defend his title, reaching the semi-finals where he was beaten in straight sets by
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Новак Ђоковић, Novak Đoković, separator=" / ", ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at N ...
who also went on to win in the final. Čilić managed to defend his title at the
Kremlin Cup, winning the final in almost identical fashion to the previous year. In the final, he defeated the same player as the previous year, Roberto Bautista Agut.
2016: First Masters title and Davis Cup final
In the first major tournament of the year, Marin Čilić was seeded 12th, but he was upset by Bautista Agut in the third round of the Australian Open.
At Indian Wells, he reached the quarterfinals before losing to No. 15 seed David Goffin. At the Miami Masters, he was defeated by Gilles Simon in third round.
At the
Wimbledon Championships, Čilić repeated his efforts of the previous two years making the quarterfinals, after eliminating rival Kei Nishikori in the fourth round. In the quarterfinals, he met third seed Roger Federer; Čilić won the first two sets and had match points in the fourth set but was unable to convert eventually being eliminated in five sets.
At the
2016 Olympics, he competed in the men's singles and the men's doubles with
Marin Draganja. He reached the last 16 in the singles and the second round in the doubles.
In August 2016, Čilić announced his new coach as
Jonas Björkman in a video posted to MyATP. In
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
, Čilić claimed his maiden Masters title, defeating Andy Murray in the final in straight sets. This win ended Murray's 22-match winning streak, dating back to 2016 Queen's Club. The Croat beat Viktor Troicki, Fernando Verdasco, Tomáš Berdych,
Borna Ćorić and Grigor Dimitrov in the route to the final. Čilić returned to the top 10 in the following week.
In October, he captured his maiden ATP 500 level title at the
Swiss Indoors, beating Nishikori in straight sets in the final. At the
Paris Masters, Čilić defeated Djokovic for the first time in his career to reach the semifinals, where he subsequently lost to John Isner. His run guaranteed that he would qualify for the
ATP World Tour Finals for the second time in three years. There, in the round robin, he lost to Murray and Wawrinka, but defeated Nishikori for his first-ever win at the Finals. With this victory, he rose to No. 6 in the ATP rankings.
In the final of the
Davis Cup, with Croatia leading Argentina by 2–1 in matches, Čilić led
Juan Martín del Potro by two sets to love needing one more set to win the title for his country. However, del Potro went on to win the match in five sets and Argentina won the deciding match to win the tournament.
2017: Wimbledon final
Čilić started his 2017 season as first seed at the
Chennai Open but lost to
Jozef Kovalík in the second round. In the first major of the year, the
Australian Open, Čilić lost in the second round to
Dan Evans.
In February, he lost in his opening match in
Montpellier
Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...
, reached the quarterfinals of the
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...
, and the semifinals of
Acapulco
Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , ; ), is a city and Port of Acapulco, major seaport in the Political divisions of Mexico, state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Located on a deep, semicirc ...
.
Čilić was eliminated in the second rounds of
Indian Wells,
Miami Open, and
Madrid Open, but reached the quarterfinals in
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
, and
Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...
. In May, Čilić won the title at the
Istanbul Open, defeating Milos Raonic in the final, in straight sets. This was his 14th ATP 250 title, second clay title, and 17th title overall. Additionally, Čilić's victory in Istanbul meant that 2017 was his tenth consecutive year winning at least one ATP title.
Čilić reached the quarterfinal of the
French Open
The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
for the first time in his career and thus became one of the few tennis players who reached the quarterfinal stage of every major championship.
In June, at the Queen's Club Championships, Marin made the final for the third time in his career. There he faced
Feliciano López
Feliciano López Díaz-Guerra (; born 20 September 1981) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He achieved his career-high singles ATP rankings, ranking of world No. 12 in March 2015 and doubles ranking of world No. 9 in November 2016. ...
, losing in three sets, after having a championship point in the final-set tiebreaker. At
Wimbledon, Čilić reached the quarterfinals without dropping a set. There, he defeated Gilles Müller in five sets to reach his first Wimbledon semifinal. In the semifinal he recovered from a one set deficit to defeat Sam Querrey in four sets. In the final he was defeated by Roger Federer in straight sets, struggling with blisters on his left foot.
An adductor injury forced Čilić to miss the Montreal and Cincinnati Masters events. Čilić returned to play at the
US Open where he lost to
Diego Schwartzman
Diego Sebastián Schwartzman (, ; born 16 August 1992) is an Argentine former professional tennis player. He won four ATP Tour singles titles and reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 8 in October 2020. As a clay court specialist ...
in the third round. Despite this, following the tournament's conclusion Čilić broke into the top five for the first time in his career.
In October, Čilić reached the semifinals of the
Tokyo
Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
,
Shanghai
Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
,
Basel
Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...
, and the quarterfinals of the
Paris Masters. Čilić failed to win a match in the
ATP Finals despite going to three sets against Federer,
Alexander Zverev, and
Jack Sock. Čilić finished the season as world No. 6 for the second consecutive year.
2018: Australian final, Davis Cup champion, world No. 3
Čilić started his 2018 season as first seed in
Pune, India. He lost in semifinals to eventual champion Gilles Simon.
Despite mixed form since his Wimbledon campaign, Čilić defeated world No. 1,
Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal Parera (born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for ...
, at the
Australian Open after the Spaniard retired hurt in the fifth set, going on to reach another Grand-Slam final against Federer. This made him the first Croatian to ever reach the singles final at Melbourne Park. He eventually lost in five sets. The match garnered minor criticism from some tennis pundits for being played indoors to favour Federer, despite the Australian Open traditionally being an outdoor event. Čilić later admitted that he found it difficult to adjust to the changed conditions. However, it remained disputed that who among the two players was going to be favored in indoor conditions. At the conclusion of the tournament, Čilić reached a career-high ATP ranking of No. 3. He remained at that position for 12 weeks, before being surpassed by
Alexander Zverev.
In the first two
Masters 1000 events of the season Čilić was defeated by Philipp Kohlschreiber (at
Indian Wells, in the round of 32) and John Isner, the eventual champion of
Miami
Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
. In the clay-court season, Čilić played four tournaments reaching the quarterfinals of
Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...
, the semifinals of
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
, and the quarterfinals at the
French Open
The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
. Čilić failed to defend his only title from the 2017 season at
Istanbul
Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
, losing in his opening match to
Malek Jaziri. This defeat marked the first time since February 2014 that Čilić had not held any tournament on the ATP Tour.
At
Queen's Club, Čilić was the top seed. He reached the final, where he contested a close match with Djokovic, coming out on top in three sets and saving a match point on his serve to claim his second title at Queen's Club and second career win over Djokovic. At
Wimbledon, he was drawn in the top half and was considered one of the biggest threats to Roger Federer's title defense. He was upset in the second round by
Guido Pella
Guido Pella (; born 17 May 1990) is an Argentine former professional tennis player. In August 2019, Pella reached his career best world No. 20 in singles. In July 2019, he peaked at No. 55 in doubles.
Personal life
His father, Carlos, taught hi ...
in five sets, after comfortably winning the first two sets.
During the North American summer hard-court swing, Čilić made strong showings in
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
and
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
, losing in both tournaments to the eventual champion in tight three setters (Rafael Nadal in Toronto and Novak Djokovic in Cincinnati). At the
US Open, Čilić recovered from a two-set deficit to defeat teenager
Alex de Minaur in the third round. Čilić eventually lost in the quarterfinals against Kei Nishikori in a rematch of the
2014 final.
Čilić helped Croatia reach the
Davis Cup finals for the second time in three years, winning one of his two singles rubbers against the
USA. In October, Čilić suffered a string of early exits at
Tokyo
Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
,
Shanghai
Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
, and
Basel
Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...
. He rebounded from this trough in form at the
Paris Masters reaching the quarterfinals for a third consecutive year before losing to Djokovic in three sets. By winning a set he ended the Serb's streak of 30 consecutive sets won.
Čilić qualified for the
Tour Finals for a third successive time and fourth time overall. His disappointing record at the event continued winning only one of his three round-robin matches, bringing his overall record at the event to .
Čilić led the
Croatian national team at the
2018 Davis Cup final against
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
on the clay courts of
Lille
Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...
. After comfortably defeating Tsonga in his first match, Čilić found himself in the same position he was in the
2016 final, having to win his second rubber to guarantee Croatia the title. This time however, Čilić defeated his opponent,
Lucas Pouille, in straight sets to grab the decisive victory for Croatia.
2019: 500th career win, fall from top 30
Čilić started his year at
Australian Open. In his third round match against Fernando Verdasco, Čilić saved two match points and came back from a two set deficit to advance to the fourth round. This was the seventh time in Čilić's career that he had won a match after being down two sets. In the fourth round, Čilić was upset by an in-form Roberto Bautista Agut.
Over his next three tournaments, Čilić only managed to win one match, while being eliminated early at
Dubai
Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
,
Indian Wells, and
Miami
Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
. As a result of his poor form in the early hard court season, Čilić fell from the world's top ten for the first time in over two years.
After another two winless tournaments to start the clay court season (at
Monte-Carlo and
Budapest
Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
), Čilić finally broke his slump at the
Madrid Masters by winning three consecutive matches against
Martin Kližan,
Jan-Lennard Struff, &
Laslo Djere on the way to the quarterfinals. However, he had to withdraw before his match against Djokovic due to food poisoning. By reaching the quarterfinals, Čilić became one of the few players on the Tour to reach the quarterfinal stage of all
nine Masters 1000 tournaments. Čilić lost his second round match at both
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
and the
French Open
The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
, to Jan-Lennard Struff and Grigor Dimitrov respectively.
Čilić failed to defend his
Queen's Club title, leaving the Croat out of the top 15 for the first time in five years. This also marked the first time since August 2008 that Čilić had not reached a tournament final in over a year. Čilić lost in the second round of
Wimbledon to
João Sousa in straight sets.
In the North American summer hard-court season, Čilić competed in
Washington,
Montreal
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
,
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
, and the
US Open in New York. Čilić fell from the world's top 20 after failing to match his previous year's performance at the first three events. At the US Open, Čilić reached the fourth round where he showed improvements to form during a four set loss against eventual champion Nadal.
On 17 October 2019, he reached his 500th career match win at the
2019 Kremlin Cup in Moscow becoming the 10th active player in the list. Čilić ended the year ranked No. 39 in the ATP rankings. It marked the first time that he had failed to win a singles title since 2007.
2020–2021: Olympic silver medal, top 30
Čilić started the 2020 season at the
Australian Open where he beat
Corentin Moutet,
Benoît Paire, and
Roberto Bautista Agut before losing to
Milos Raonic in straight sets. At the
Open 13, Čilić lost in the round of 16 to
Denis Shapovalov
Denis Viktorovich Shapovalov (born ) is a Canadian professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 10 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP, which he first achieved on September 21, 2020. Sh ...
. He lost in the first rounds of the
Dubai Tennis Championships
The Dubai Tennis Championships (also known as the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships for sponsorship reasons) (formerly known for sponsorship reasons as the ''Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships'' and the ''Dubai Duty Free Men's and Women's Champ ...
and the
Cincinnati Masters to Benoît Paire and Shapovalov respectively. At the
US Open, he beat
Denis Kudla and
Norbert Gombos before losing to
Dominic Thiem in four sets. He was once again defeated by Thiem in the first round of the
French Open
The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
in straight sets.
Čilić began the 2021 season at the
Murray River Open, where he lost in the first round to
Jérémy Chardy
Jérémy Chardy (; born 12 February 1987) is a French tennis coach and a former professional player. He has won one ATP Tour singles title, in Stuttgart in 2009. His best major performance in singles was reaching the quarterfinals of the 2013 ...
despite having five match points in the third-set tiebreak. At the
Australian Open, he lost to 18th seed
Grigor Dimitrov in the first round.
At the
French Open
The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
, he was defeated in the second round by
Roger Federer
Roger Federer ( , ; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 3 ...
in four sets.
In June, Čilić won the
Stuttgart Open, defeating third seed
Félix Auger-Aliassime in the final in straight sets to win his 19th singles title and first in three years. At
Wimbledon, he reached third round where he was knocked out by
Daniil Medvedev after winning the first two sets.
In July, Čilić competed at the postponed
Tokyo Olympics and reached the second round in singles where he lost to
Pablo Carreño Busta. In the
doubles tournament, he and
Ivan Dodig reached the final, where they lost to compatriots
Mate Pavić
Mate Pavić (; born 4 July 1993) is a Croatian professional tennis player. He is the current world No. 1 in doubles by the ATP. Pavić is one of only six men to complete the Career Golden Slam in doubles.
He is a seven-time Grand Slam champio ...
and
Nikola Mektić. It was the third time in the
Olympics men's doubles' history that the same country won both gold and silver, and the first one since
1908.
At the
US Open, Čilić retired in the first round in the fifth set against
Philipp Kohlschreiber. It was his first retirement in more than 800 matches on the tour and the first time he had failed to make it past the opening round at Flushing Meadows in 13 attempts.
Čilić then competed at the
Kremlin Cup as the sixth seed where he reached the final. He beat
Damir Dzumhur in three sets before defeating
Tommy Paul in straight sets. He once again won in straight sets against
Pedro Martínez in the quarterfinals and against
Ričardis Berankis in the semifinals. He lost to
Aslan Karatsev in straight sets in the final.
The following week, Čilić won the
St. Petersburg Open, defeating fifth seed
Taylor Fritz in a three-sets final to win his 20th singles title. On the way to the title, he also defeated
Albert Ramos Viñolas,
Karen Khachanov,
Roberto Bautista Agut and
Botic van de Zandschulp. With this title he became only the sixth active player in 2021 with
20 titles after Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Murray and del Potro. He also returned to the top 30 after to years to World No. 28 on 1 November 2021.
2022: French Open semifinal and top 15
At the
Adelaide International 1 tournament, Čilić recorded his 550th win and became one of only seven active players to have over 550 wins and 40th man overall in the
Open Era.
Čilić then entered the
Australian Open as the 27th seed. He defeated
Emilio Gómez in the first round in straight sets,
Norbert Gombos in the second round in four sets, and fifth seed
Andrey Rublev in the third round in four sets. He lost to ninth seed
Félix Auger-Aliassime in the fourth round in four sets.
At the
French Open
The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
, Čilić defeated
Attila Balazs in the first round,
Marton Fucsovics in the second,
Gilles Simon in the third before taking out number 2 seed
Daniil Medvedev in straight sets in the round of 16. With this result, he secured his return into the top 20 in the rankings. He won against
Andrey Rublev in the quarterfinals in a long five sets match with a super tiebreak in the fifth — the first ever played on Court Philippe Chatrier — winning the last 9 points in a row and lasting 4 hours and 10 minutes to reach his first semifinal at this Major. He became only the 5th active player besides the
Big Four, and the first Croatian player to reach the semifinals at all four majors. He then lost to
Casper Ruud in the semifinals.
At the
Canadian Open he recorded his 350th hard court win, becoming only the fifth active player, behind the Big Four, to achieve this milestone.
At the
US Open, Čilić defeated
Dan Evans in the third round. In the fourth round, he lost to eventual champion
Carlos Alcaraz in a five-set match lasting nearly four hours.
In October, Čilić reached the final of the
Tel Aviv Open, where he lost in straight sets to No. 1 seed
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Новак Ђоковић, Novak Đoković, separator=" / ", ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at N ...
, who was playing his first official tournament since winning
Wimbledon. As a result, he returned to the top 15 in the rankings at world No. 14 on 3 October 2022.
2023–2025: Lowest ranked ATP titlist, back to majors
In the first week of 2023, Čilić reached the quarterfinals in
Pune
Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...
, but injured his knee during the tournament and pulled out before his match against eventual champion
Tallon Griekspoor. He did not play in any further tournaments since his injury and fell out of the top 100 until his return at the
Croatia Open in Umag.
In 2024, after another long hiatus, Čilić returned to the ATP Tour at the
2024 Hong Kong Open using a protected ranking. He also competed at the
Australian Open using a protected ranking.
Čilić then received a wildcard for the
2024 Argentina Open. He also entered the
Monte-Carlo Masters and the
Mutua Madrid Open using a protected ranking, but withdrew before the tournaments began. In May 2024, he withdrew from the
French Open
The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
having undergone knee surgery.
In August 2024, after a six-month hiatus, he returned to the
2024 Manacor Challenger and defeated
Alberto Barroso Campos in the first round.
Ranked No. 777, Čilić reached the semifinals at the
2024 Hangzhou Open as a wildcard with wins over two Japanese players, eighth seed
Yoshihito Nishioka and qualifier
Yasutaka Uchiyama, saving two match points against the latter. Next he defeated fourth seed
Brandon Nakashima to reach his 37th final and first in two years since September 2022 in Tel Aviv. As a result, he became the second lowest-ranked finalist after
Raemon Sluiter in 2009 in
's-Hertogenbosch
s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 160,783. It is the capital of ...
. With his win over sixth seed
Zhang Zhizhen in the final, Čilić clinched his 21st title and 16th on hardcourts, becoming the lowest ranked player to win a title since the current ATP ranking system's introduction in 1973. As a result, he returned to the top 250 in the singles rankings, raising more than 500 positions on 23 September 2024.
Ranked No. 187 at the
2025 Dubai Tennis Championships, Čilić reached the quarterfinals defeating top-10 player and sixth seed
Alex de Minaur and another Australian
Alexei Popyrin, and rose more than 45 positions up, returning to the top 150 in the singles rankings.
Ranked No. 109, Čilić qualified for the first time at a Grand Slam main draw at the
2025 French Open since the 2024 Australian Open, as a lucky loser, and after three years of absence at this major, having lost in the last round of qualifying to
Lloyd Harris.
Clothing and equipment
As of 2018 Čilić plays with the Head YouTek Radical MidPlus with a custom drilled 16x19 string pattern, painted to look like the Head Graphene Touch Prestige Mid. For strings he uses a hybrid of Babolat VS Touch mains and Luxilon ALU Power crosses. He wore
Fila apparel until the 2011 season, when he got a 5-year contract with
Li-Ning, switching back to
Fila in 2016.
At the start of the 2020 season, Čilić started wearing
Head
A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple ani ...
apparel.
Career statistics
Grand Slam tournament performance timeline
''Current through the
2024 Australian Open.''
*
Čilić withdrew before the second round match at the 2013 Wimbledon.
Finals: 3 (1 title, 2 runner-ups)
Notes
References
External links
Official website
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cilic, Marin
1988 births
Living people
Croatian male tennis players
Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Monaco
Bosnia and Herzegovina male tennis players
Croatian sportspeople in doping cases
French Open junior champions
Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's singles
Olympic medalists for Croatia in tennis
People from Čitluk, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Sportspeople from Herzegovina-Neretva Canton
Tennis players from Zagreb
People from Monte Carlo
Tennis players at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Tennis players at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Tennis players at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Tennis players at the 2020 Summer Olympics
US Open (tennis) champions
21st-century Croatian sportsmen
Doping cases in tennis
Grand Slam (tennis) champions in boys' singles
Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Olympic silver medalists for Croatia
Croatian sportspeople from Bosnia and Herzegovina
21st-century Bosnia and Herzegovina sportsmen